At 12:01am eastern standard time on the tenth of November, 2009 the year of our lord, I signed on for another tour of duty in the Modern Warfare world. As I opened the packaging and booted up my Xbox all I kept thinking was, “Is this going to be worth the epic level of hype that it has built for itself?” Now that I have logged fifteen plus hours into the single player campaign and well over thirty into the Special Ops and mutiplayer modes I can say without any reservations…Fucking A yes it was! Simply put, Infinity Ward sets the bar so high with this game, that all FPS to follow will have quite an undertaking if they’re to match up with what Modern Warfare 2 has to offer.

The game takes place soon after the events in the first one. There is a new Russian government in place and they are looking for any reason at all to start a fight with America. In comes Vladimir Makarov to help start that fight. He unleashes a terrorist attack on Russian soil and manages to pin it on America. This act effectively tricks two super powers to end up in all out war and the Russians bring the pain to America a la Red Dawn style. As the story progresses (like every Call Of Duty game before it) you will take control of muliple characters and end up with many points of view of what’s going on.

The Game as a whole is broken down into three different game play modes so I will break down every mode separately. Let’s start with the single player.

Single Player:

Much like the game itself there will be three very distinct camps when it comes to the Single Player Campaign. First, will be the people that not only get what Infinity Ward was trying to achieve here, but they also able to forgive mild shortcomings for enjoyments sake. Second, will be the people that think the story was a little lackluster and it was way too short and left way too many loose ends. Third, are the Hillary Clinton types that want to ban it for its now Infamous Airport mission that depicts a very VERY realistic terrorist attack.

I happen to be part of the first camp. Fact is, if Black Hawk Down is the movie version of what it’s like to be in a modern battle, then Modern Warfare 2 is the video game equivalent. True, it doesn’t take as much of a cinematic approach as the last one but, holy shit does it hit home the realism. Some on the missions in this game will really make an impact on some gamers especially the ones that are actually in the military. That’s the fucking point people! This broad approach to the story makes it feel much more like a war simulation. A war simulation at it’s very best. Yes, It is short, really short, actually if you have the time you can beat it in one sitting. That’s fine for me though, because it was so fun to play and there is enough to it that it will be just as fun a second time through. The one and only gripe I have with the story is there were so many loose ends by the end that you feel like the game needed maybe two more missions to get it all in. If you still live in the stone age and don’t have an internet connection and this was all you had, then you might be a bit disappointed.

Special Ops:

This is a new mode to the series and I welcome it with open arms! It is 25 co op missions that take many moments from the single player game that you and a friend can play together. You can play most of them solo but most of the enjoyment will be lost. The whole point of this mode is to force players to communicate like real soldiers in order to survive wave after wave of bad guys and attack dogs. If you run and gun you might get lucky but, some of these missions are very challenging and will test even the most skilled of players especially if you play them on the veteran difficulty setting. All I have to say is, when you snipe two dudes with perfect timing, or sneak up on two dudes and knife them in the back it will fill you with joy! With DC plans for future missions you can be sure I will be throwing many Microsoft Points at this one.

Multiplayer:

Okay, let’s get to brass tax here. This is the reason many people are going to buy this game. Case and point a few of my friends have logged more hours than me and they haven’t even touched the single player missions yet. You want to know why? Because the multiplayer mode fucking rules, that’s why! If you have played the first one than you will easily jump right back in with relative ease. All the match modes from the last one are still there along with a few new ones. The level system is still the same only this time you level up to 70 before you hit prestige mode, rather than 55. The weapon and gameplay challenges are way more fun this time around unlike the last one and you never really get that “grinding levels” felling. The biggest and best change to the Modern Warfare formula is the Kill Streak rewards. From radar jamming all the way to a tactical nuclear missiles, if you have skill at Pwning people than you will be rewarded with some awesome weaponry. With many new maps and a shit ton of unlockable weapons, emblems, and challenges this will keep you going all the way to the coveted Tenth Level Prestige!

All said and done Modern Warfare 2 is not without shortcomings. Usually you rate a game as a whole but, in this case the some of it’s parts vastly outweigh any shortcomings the game has. If you’re a fan of the FPS genre then put down Halo ODST and pick up Modern Warfare 2! If not, then drop and give me 20 pussy!

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